Quotes of the day

posted at 9:01 pm on November 4, 2012 by Allahpundit

Four years ago, the Daily News endorsed Obama, seeing a historic figure whose intelligence, political skills and empathy with common folk positioned him to build on the small practical experience he would bring to the world’s toughest job. We valued Obama’s pledge to govern with bold pragmatism and bipartisanship.

The hopes of those days went unfulfilled…

The presidential imperative of the times is to energize the economy and get deficits under control to empower the working and middle classes to again enjoy the fruits of an ascendant America.

Obama is the president. The buck stops with him. This is now Obama’s economy, even though the GOP shares in the blame for partisan games.

It was Obama and his fellow Democrats who went it alone on health care, making subsequent deals even harder to find. It was Obama who too often let Congress steer the ship in circles. It still is Obama who hasn’t laid out a clear vision for the next four years.

Last week, I noticed this blog comment: “Romney was not my first, second, or third choice, but I will crawl over ground glass to vote for him.”

A lot of Republicans — and, judging from polls, a lot of independents — feel this way. If there are enough of them, Romney will win, and win big.

Are there? Well, there are some signs. I’ve written here before that politics is all about showing up. And in recent months, people on the Right have been doing a lot of showing up. They’ve showed up at Romney-Ryan events in unprecedented numbers. They made Dinesh D’Souza’s “2016: Obama’s America” a huge hit despite a virtual blackout from traditional media. They stood in line for hours at Chick-fil-A restaurants to buy chicken sandwiches in response to politicians’ bullying. They packed houses at the “Hating Breitbart” premiere.

The 76-year-old retiree was a Hillary Clinton supporter in 2008, but volunteered for Barack Obama when he became the nominee. He’s been doing the same for the Democratic president’s campaign since March, door-knocking and phone-banking throughout Ohio, repeating shifts from the late morning until the evening, when it’s too dark to see outside.

Can the Democrat put his finger on the difference in energy in 2012?

“It’s hard to quantify, but there is significantly less enthusiasm,” said Roan. “I think there’s sort of grim determination on the part of some people, more than enthusiasm. … And it shows up in our volunteers. … We don’t have the number of young people volunteering like we did last time.”

***

Already our government redistributes too much from the young to the old, from working families to retirees, from productive entrepreneurs to protected clients. To accede to this government’s permanent expansion is to walk, with eyes wide open, into the kind of economic and demographic trap that has ensnared the weaker economies of Europe today.

President Obama did not single-handedly put us on this path. But he has kept us on it, accelerated our progress down it, and campaigned for re-election as though taking this course had no downsides whatsoever. He’s the candidate of the Medicare status quo in a country facing an entitlement crunch, of government bailouts in an economy with a crony capitalism problem, and of contraceptive mandates in a society with a birth dearth.

I don’t know whether Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can fix things, but I do know that Barack Obama and Joe Biden won’t even try — and that therefore a vote for Obama is a vote for the certainty of national collapse. Look at Lower Manhattan in the dark, and try to imagine what America might look like after the rest of the planet decides it no longer needs the dollar as global reserve currency. For four years, we have had a president who can spend everything but build nothing. Nothing but debt, dependency, and decay. As I said at the beginning, in different ways the response to Hurricane Sandy and Benghazi exemplify the fundamental unseriousness of the superpower at twilight. Whether or not to get serious is the choice facing the electorate on Tuesday.

Blowback

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0dumba, an egotistical and deceitful con artist who childishly declared, “I won”, referred to Tea Partiers as “teabaggers”, who has shown no restraint when it comes to belittling and marginalizing Republicans who disagree with him, and who has shown little to no leadership skills in his 4 years as Prez, all of the sudden is a respectably bipartisan, ‘bigger than politics’, bridge-making consensus builder because of how he “handled” Sandy? LOL

many voters wont care about that. they were worried about the storm, then they followed it while it hit a nearby state, they followed the aftermat, chris heaping praise on him and in general left with the impression that Obama did a good job(stellar polls confirm this). at the same time, romney was off news.

Undecided voters who could be swayed by 0dumba’s politicized reaction to Sandy are geniuses!

Anti-Control on November 5, 2012 at 8:02 AM

I am sure you know that the majority of voters don’t share your intensity regarding Obama. most voters have a midly positive opinion of him and having the perception he did a god job on sandy, only undermines some of the arguments against him.

What I find most encouraging is the overwhelming percentage of independents and swing voters in Romney’s column—still NOT FACTORED INTO THESE POLLS.

Can’t wait to say: “Hey, Mr. President—you lost”

Rovin on November 5, 2012 at 8:04 AM

Funny thing that Suffolk Univ pollster was on O’Reilly 2 days ago and he said that he stood by their initial assessment that Romney would take Virginia, he said he didn’t see absolutely any movement for Obama there…hard to beleive that two days later he’s in the lead…

I’m sorry, and I mean this with all due respect, but that just sounds ridiculous. It’s like sticking your fingers in your ears and repeating, “I can’t hear you,” over and over.

I can see ignoring a pointless troll who is disruptive for the sake of being disruptive (eg Tesla), but when they are making points that ought to be countered, we aren’t helping ourselves by disarming and pretending the comments with opposing views don’t exist.

as for Christie, his national ambitions are toast. again, don’t think th GOP can or should do much about it…it’s a natural selection process out there, and this one is not going to survive politically (I mean on the national stage).

jimver on November 5, 2012 at 7:16 AM

Let’s hope so. Krauthammer seemed pretty steamed yesterday saying that Christie’s bear hug (his exact words) didn’t help Romney any. I saw this this morning and it looks like it may have been payback to Romney for not picking Christie as the VP.

So how in the hell did Obama take the lead in Virginia. Damn it. Romney seems to make up ground in blue states but starts to lose Virginia?

bucsox79 on November 5, 2012 at 7:42 AM

Well, it’s NOT because of any decline in support for Mitt in Hampton Roads. I was with thousands of others in a cold aiport hanger late last night waiting for Mitt’s airplane (90 mins late due to a ground hold in Philly). The place went absolutely nuts when he came on stage. I attended two McCain events in ’08 and the increase in enthusiasm here is night and day. Keep the faith.

many voters wont care about that. they were worried about the storm, then they followed it while it hit a nearby state, they followed the aftermat, chris heaping praise on him and in general left with the impression that Obama did a good job(stellar polls confirm this). at the same time, romney was off news.

I am sure you know that the majority of voters don’t share your intensity regarding Obama. most voters have a midly positive opinion of him and having the perception he did a god job on sandy, only undermines some of the arguments against him.

nathor on November 5, 2012 at 8:16 AM

I am aware that many voters follow politics less closely than I, just as I am aware that voters who’d factor in how he “handled” Sandy when trying to determine whether he cares more about being a bipartisan leader than he does appearing like he is a bipartisan leader are unobservant slowpokes, who are not very decisive nor good judges of character.

0dumba has a tendency to run away from press conferences, controversial votes and decisions, and in-depth questions, which only proves what a unadmirable p*ssy he is.

I am so excited about voting tomorrow. I will be bringing my 8 month old granddaughter with me to vote. She’s my little warrior princess. The first time I babysat her, we watched Palin infiltrate the Today show. (Train up a child in the way he should go and all that.)

A week before Sandy hit, liberal pundits were speculating on how the storm might help Obama.

They didn’t wonder if FEMA had stockpiles in place (FEMA didn’t), or fret about ConEd being ready to reconnect

any lost power. No–nothing so banal!

They were wondering how the storm could help Obama.

I disdain Obama to no end. But I call curses from God on the MSM.

Liam on November 5, 2012 at 8:18 AM

This is something that I find most disturbing in the American politics, and say what you want about Europe, I have never seen this level of cynicism there. Most political commentafors and news people here – even before a looming event/crisis happens, like in anticipation of it, or in its aftermath – keep going on and on and on only about the image and the perceptions of the particular event/crisis, how would politician X come across more sympathetic or in touch if he/she says Z and Y, or does A and B, what he should say so that he sounds credible and the public falls for it, or what image should he project during the crisis/event, etc. The superficilaity as well as the cynicism of this approach is so sickening. Their whole idea of politics is how to openly manipulate people into believing what they want them to believe. It says a lot about the gullibility of the American public too, because these discussionx about open manipulations of the general public take place right in front on their eyes,, it’s on their TV monitors day in and day out…yet, they behave exactly as they are expected to and react like sheeple, which shows that the manipulaton is effective even when discussed and talked about openly…this confounds me, really…

I am aware that many voters follow politics less closely than I, just as I am aware that voters who’d factor in how he “handled” Sandy when trying to determine whether he cares more about being a bipartisan leader than he does appearing like he is a bipartisan leader are unobservant slowpokes, who are not very decisive nor good judges of character.

people judge obama and romney with diferent info and biases than you do. it does not mean they are bad judges of character. and in their defense, despite all the destruction the left did on romney, he still ended up well seen by the same voters.

0dumba has a tendency to run away from press conferences, controversial votes and decisions, and in-depth questions, which only proves what a unadmirable p*ssy he is.

Anti-Control on November 5, 2012 at 8:38 AM

I sure of one thing, if one of those voters reads your critique of obama, he will make the character judgement that you hate him and probably will pay less attention to your arguments.
I said it before, hate is a good motivator(for the base), but an horrible persuader of the independent voters that decide the election.

I sure of one thing, if one of those voters reads your critique of obama, he will make the character judgement that you hate him and probably will pay less attention to your arguments.
I said it before, hate is a good motivator(for the base), but an horrible persuader of the independent voters that decide the election.

nathor on November 5, 2012 at 8:55 AM

So, I am guessing that’s why all that horribly negative obama campaign didn’t work too well with indies….

You’re being obstreperous. Independents are not the “low information” voter always. Indies are going for R because they saw him in the debates as the positive guy with a plan. Obama looked like an ass. Sandy might have given him a second look….but his positives have collapsed since all those people are still without power. He “left them behind” to go campaign!!!

Flo, you are one of the most effective warriors against the liberal commenters. You can always be counted on to deliver a witty or strong, factual response to their posts. That is another reason why it would be sad if people like you, in the name of an ill-defined “trollcott,” just gave up and decided to let the liberal commenters’ messages stand unanswered.

people judge obama and romney with diferent info and biases than you do. it does not mean they are bad judges of character. and in their defense, despite all the destruction the left did on romney, he still ended up well seen by the same voters.

I sure of one thing, if one of those voters reads your critique of obama, he will make the character judgement that you hate him and probably will pay less attention to your arguments.
I said it before, hate is a good motivator(for the base), but an horrible persuader of the independent voters that decide the election.

nathor on November 5, 2012 at 8:55 AM

People like you who say this sort of diversionary claptrap only show that you are basically driven by your feelings and opinions, not truth or reality. For instance, it isn’t arguable that 0dumba is an out-and-out liar (I present his deceit about his membership in The New Party as prima facie evidence.) A partisan like you would instinctively say that shows bias on my part, to which I’d say, “What’s biased about valuing the truth above personal feelings?”

We don’t have common ground here, and unlike you, I can coherently explain why that is!

So, I am guessing that’s why all that horribly negative obama campaign didn’t work too well with indies….

jimver on November 5, 2012 at 8:59 AM

yep, and a good reason is that indies are allways seeing libs and repubs calling each other the worse and much of the argument goes ignore and dismissed as partisan rethoric. but for obama, that said before he would be diferent and polite, it might have broken some of the positive perceptions ppl had of him.

People like you who say this sort of diversionary claptrap only show that you are basically driven by your feelings and opinions, not truth or reality. For instance, it isn’t arguable that 0dumba is an out-and-out liar (I present his deceit about his membership in The New Party as prima facie evidence.) A partisan like you would instinctively say that shows bias on my part, to which I’d say, “What’s biased about valuing the truth above personal feelings?”

We don’t have common ground here, and unlike you, I can coherently explain why that is!

Anti-Control on November 5, 2012 at 9:10 AM

all politicians lie, and these, lets call them swing voters, they hear the same message from both parties, that everybody is lying. and, in this youtube age, its very important to not have yourself caught too many times saying opposite things on camera, like, unfortunately, romney did, while obama, he is more sly to let himself caught in those youtube moments too often.
I still think we, gop, are incredible cynic in our primary process where we demand stuff from our candidades that are just not popular and then, forgive them when they tack center in the general but alas, their words are on tape and they lost credibility and will be called liars.

all politicians lie, and these, lets call them swing voters, they hear the same message from both parties, that everybody is lying. and, in this youtube age, its very important to not have yourself caught too many times saying opposite things on camera, like, unfortunately, romney did, while obama, he is more sly to let himself caught in those youtube moments too often.
I still think we, gop, are incredible cynic in our primary process where we demand stuff from our candidades that are just not popular and then, forgive them when they tack center in the general but alas, their words are on tape and they lost credibility and will be called liars.

nathor on November 5, 2012 at 9:24 AM

Politicians don’t all lie equally, nor are all of their lies of the same nature – it’s one thing to change a presentation of a position, another to shift a position, and still another to flip-flop on a position.

Odumba fundamentally and consistently lies about who he is, what he believes, what he’s done, and what he plans to do in a way that is blatantly pathological, and I don’t see any way that it would fair to say the same about Mitt. One good reason for this is because capitalists like Mitt don’t tend to feel the same need to misleadingly present themselves like socialists do, of whom 0dumba is one (I am not interested in debating whether 0dumba is a socialist or not, in the same way I am not interested in debating his lies and defamations regarding his membership in the socialist New Party.)

Except that his likeability dropped like a rock after his debates, when they got to see his sneering personality on display on national tv… and Romney’s went up! But I guess you can assert whatever you want when you ignore all evidence to the contrary!